Terminal blocks are used by telecommunications companies to connect connector wires of a multi-core cable to service wires that extend to customer residences or places of business. Such terminal blocks are typically mounted outdoors and are, thus, exposed to environmental conditions, such as rain, snow, sleet, ice, temperature fluctuations, dirt, insect infestation and similar conditions that may adversely affect the electrical connections between the service wires and the electrical connectors. Thus, some form of sealant material may be provided in such terminal blocks.
Referring now to the schematic illustration of FIG. 1, a typical telephone company (Telco) telecommunications conductor cable 20 extends from the Telco central office 22 to feed pedestals in a neighborhood or neighborhoods. The Telco telecommunications conductor cable 20 may include as many 900 or more pairs of telecommunications conductor wires. At a splice 24, one or more of the pairs of telecommunications wires are accessed. FIG. 1 illustrates a single tip line 26 and ring line 28 which are spliced at the splice 24 into a cable extending to pedestal 32. Note that, while only one pair of wires 26, 28 is illustrated, the splice typically includes bridge connections for 25 pairs of wires with a 25 pair cable 30 extending from the splice 24 to the pedestal 32. Thus, the telecommunications wire pair 26, 28 and the other 24 pairs which are bridge connected to the pedestal 32 also continue to extend within the telecommunications conductor cable 20 and are, therefore, available for use at additional pedestals further downstream from the Telco central office 22.
In the pedestal 32, the telecommunications wire pair 26, 28 is connected to a terminal block 34. It is further to be understood that, while only one terminal block 34 is illustrated, a terminal block assembly including a plurality of module stations, which may share a common base, is typically provided for all the pairs of the cable 30. The terminal block 34 provides a connection point between telecommunications wire pair 26, 28 and the customer service wires 36. A telecommunications connection may thus be provided between the customer 38 and the Telco central office 22. In addition, by utilizing a bridge connection at the splice 24, the telephone company maintains the flexibility of using ones of the pairs of wires in the telecommunications conductor cable 20 at different pedestals 32 depending upon customer requirements at various locations within a neighborhood or neighborhoods.
An example of terminal blocks 34 according to the prior art is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,250 entitled “Telecommunications Terminal Block” which is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in its entirety. Telecommunications terminal blocks may also be utilized for establishing a connection between internal wiring of the customer 38 and the customer service wires 36. An example of such a telecommunications terminal block is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,694 entitled “Telecommunications Terminal Block” which is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in its entirety.
The telecommunications infrastructure as described with reference to FIG. 1 is generally directed to providing conventional voice services to a plurality of customers 38. The conductors 20, 26, 28, 36 are typically copper wires well suited to supporting voice communications. With the increased popularity of data based communications, which are typically digital transmissions, additional demands are being placed on the telephone infrastructure. For example, the Internet is growing increasingly popular with expanding information and services available to customers utilizing the Internet. The increase in content and opportunity for utilization of the Internet further may make it desirable to provide increasing data rates for communications over the telephone infrastructure.
While conventional modems designed for use over the telephone infrastructure are suited to the systems described with reference to FIG. 1, they are typically limited in their communication rate, for example, to 56 kilo bits per second (kbps). More recently, the digital subscriber line (DSL), very high data rate DSL (VDSL), asymmetrical DSL (ADSL) and other DSL technologies have been proposed for bringing higher band width information communications to homes and small businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines such as the cable infrastructure illustrated in FIG. 1. The DSL approach is intended to provide downstream communications connections at data rates from approximately 1.544 megabits per second (mbps) through 384 kbps. However, the data rate available for any individual customer 38 may depend upon a variety of characteristics of the Telco infrastructure including the distance between the customer 38 and the Telco central office 22. The unused length of a customer's telecommunication wire pair, such as pair 26, 28, extending downstream from the splice 24 may further limit the data rate available to individual customers.